Mustangs

The C. Milton Wright girls lacrosse team always has relied on balanced scoring under head coach Kathy Breymaier, yet junior Becky Gerhart has quickly assumed the lead role on attack.Gerhart has gone from a defensive player with average skills to the Mustangs' strongest player up front, with quickness and stickwork, while leading the county in goals scored (42) a year ago. Gerhart's move up to attack last season also allowed the Mustangs to advance to the state semifinals."I want to be the leader, I would rather have that responsibility," said Gerhart, who also leads the Mustangs in ground balls.

Paul Cantabene finds his team in a position he never thought Stevenson University would be in five years ago when he became coach. The Mustangs are unbeaten in 12 games, ranked No. 1 in Division III and fresh off a 12-8 win over defending champion Salisbury on Saturday night. So far, Cantabene and his Mustangs are living a dream season. "When I first took the job, I thought I would be here a year, maybe two, before I went back to Division I," said Cantabene, a former assistant at Towson and Maryland.

Joe Barger and Dennis Cabral each scored three goals as the Baltimore Bays (7-0) defeated the Washington Mustangs, 14-4, last night at Du Burns Arena.With the victory, the Bays advanced into next week's USISL playoffs in Tulsa, Okla.

Thursday, C. Milton Wright's boys volleyball team seemed to take a quantum leap back to Oct. 17, 1989.Once again, they had to a chance to win the county title outright if they knocked off John Carroll in the season finale. Last year, the Mustangs lost the deciding match and landed in a three-way tie with John Carroll and Bel Air.Thursday the Mustangs were within a game of sole possession of the title when the ghost of October past began to dog them. The John Carroll reprise was short lived, however.

Rodney Rawlinson's finest hour was preceded by a moment he'd just assoon forget.With about four minutes left in the second overtime period of yesterday's exciting Meade-Severna Park boys soccer game, Rawlinson hustled to the scorer's table to be subbed into the game.But when the time came for Rawlinson's re-entry, first-year Meadecoach Mike Dey saw him talking casually with spectators."I had to yell at him to go in," Dey said. "Ron's a very affable kid, but he certainly wasn't where he was supposed to be."

C. Milton Wright's girls soccer team never backed away from a challenge.The better the competition, the better the Mustangs (11-5) played.However, they couldn't hold off a powerful Severna Park team in the season finale. The Mustangs fell, 2-1, in overtime at the state Class 3A/4A semifinals Monday at Chesapeake High School in Anne Arundel County.Michelle Cope scored the game-winner for the two-time defending state champions midway through the 10-minute overtime period.Betsy Anderson had given the Falcons (15-0)

Three months ago, not even the Mustangs and coach Steve Harward expected to find C. Milton Wright's football team playing for the state Class 3A championship on the eve of December.Only seven seniors were back, nobody on the team was over 6 feet tall, and a strong season looked questionable. Back then, Harward only talked about having a rebuilding year.Instead, the Mustangs plowed through the regular season, outscoring the opposition, 291-31, with six shutouts. Their 10-0 regular season record was the best in the school's history.

C. Milton Wright's girls soccer team grabbed the final regional berth for the Class 4A/3A, Region I playoffs set to begin Tuesday. The only other county team in the region, Bel Air, was eliminated.The Mustangs (8-4) will travel to meet top-seeded Dulaney (9-1), in what has become a perennial playoff rivalry. Perry Hall (8-4) earned the number-two spot and will host third-seeded Kenwood (7-4) in the other semifinal game.For the past two years, the Mustangs have beaten Dulaney in the regionals after the Lions won in 1987.

The third-seeded C. Milton Wright girls basketball team ended its season Friday night, losing in the Class 3A Region II championship gameat top-seeded Catonsville, 66-35.The Mustangs (19-4) had troublebreaking a full-court press initiated by the Comets from the start. Getting the ball inside to center Stacey Milton (six points) also proved difficult against a tight defense.Mustangs coach Gloria Liedlich said she expected to face a tough man-to-man defense. Still, the Mustangs could not adjust.

When the Stevenson men's lacrosse team last tangled with Lynchburg, the two sides went to overtime before the Mustangs escaped with a win. Stevenson made sure that scenario was not repeated. Sophomore attackman Mark Pannenton scored all three of his goals in the first half and senior midfielder Peter Green chipped in two goals and two assists to lift the No. 4 Mustangs to a 13-7 victory over the No. 13 Hornets in a NCAA tournament quarterfinal Wednesday night. An announced 1,276 at Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills — the second-largest crowd to watch a lacrosse game at Stevenson — watched the Mustangs earn their fourth trip to a national semifinal in the last five seasons where they will meet No. 12 Salisbury at 7 p.m. on Sunday in Owings Mills.